


Come Join the Murder

by SirenAngelEyes



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: 1800's setting, F/F, Gen, Hell on Wheels Setting, Journalist Laura, Multi, Vampire Carmilla
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 09:17:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14281770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirenAngelEyes/pseuds/SirenAngelEyes





	Come Join the Murder

Train travel was the new thing in 1800’s America. Large black engines roared with life, fed by coal fires and powered by the backs of men. Two giant companies, The Union Pacific and The Central Pacific Railroads fought to lay rail across the US; giants determined to win money, fame, and fortune for its stockholders and the admiration of the people. Train travel was by far faster and more comfortable than traveling by horse and buggy, everyone knew that. Laura Hollis found herself on one such train, headed to a small boomtown aptly named Hell on Wheels. Not much was known about these boomtowns that were springing up along the Union Pacific Railroad route other than they were places of vice, filled with saloons, gambling, and prostitutes. Merchants set up shop after bribing railroad officials to know where the stop offs were happening. They peddled all manner of wares from earthy delights to those of actual use. Laura snorted as she attempted to make notes in her red leather bound journal on her impressions of the journey so far. That would shock her contemporaries at home. The train would continue to move, pulling her further from her home and away from the scandal that threatened to end her life as she knew it. 

She blew on the pages, trying to dry the ink and close up the small inkwell sitting on the uncomfortable wooden bench seat with very thin padding she was resting on. The train was set to pull out of the depot soon. She would ride it to the end unlike most of the people around her. A well written expose would help win her back with her editor and hopefully society. She crossed her ankles as she tucked her journal, inkwell, and quill back into the brown leather satchel her Father had given her as a gift when she’d first moved to New York. She knew he would welcome her home with open arms but she refused to go back to the small town she’d barely managed to escape from. Her Father was a good man; overprotective though he was. She knew she owed him a great deal and refused to let her problems fall onto his good name. 

She made a mistake, a mistake which cost her greatly. She chewed her lower lip as she felt her stress level rise at the thought. She’d done the one thing she’d promised herself she wouldn’t do; she’d fallen in love. That hadn’t been part of her carefully plotted plans. She wanted to be a journalist, wanted to write for the newspaper about things that mattered; she wanted to help those that couldn’t tell their own stories. But all of that had been blown to hell with the pretty eyes and smile of one Miss Elizabeth Spielsdorf. Betty, as Laura had fondly called her, was pure life. She was spirited, funny, and enjoyed the social society of New York. She gambled and drank and generally didn’t seem to care what anyone thought of her as long as she was having a good time. The more naive of the two, Laura had been knocked off her feet by the other woman’s vivacious personality and the way she’d taken Laura under her wing the moment they met. 

Laura squeezed her eyes shut, feeling tears start to flow. The dust of the train clung to her cheeks, the trek of her tears were easy to spot through the dust. She wiped them carefully and pulled her gloves back on, crossing her ankles as the train began to lurch and the whistle blew announcing the movement. The heat was almost unbearable when they were sitting in the depot. No wind was blowing across the trees and though the rocky cliffs of the mountains were beautiful, she missed her home more and more with each passing mile. Laura hadn’t believed she could ever love someone the way she loved Elizabeth or Betty as she’d allowed Laura to call her. Loving Betty was like standing in a field where lighting was about to strike. The buzz in the air, the quiet on the horizon, the air heavy and clean; that was Betty and Laura was just fortunate enough to be standing in the right place at the right time. Or perhaps it was the wrong time? 

Scandals amongst New York Socialites were nothing out of the ordinary. Blackmail was the currency of the new world after all and Elizabeth’s Father, General Mathias Spielsdorf, was a powerful player in society. And when he’d found Laura’s love letters in Betty’s room, he’d reacted as any good Father would to stop the scandal before it grew into something much bigger. He’d done what had to be done, but that didn’t stop Laura’s heart from breaking at the thought of losing the first person she loved. She could remember the General’s words, he wouldn’t allow their sapphic love to taint his daughter’s chances of marriage. Laura had wanted to argue but knew she would lose. He after all held the proof he needed to ruin her dreams of journalism. She had to let Betty go and it had almost killed her to do so. Before she’d left, she’d heard Betty had accepted the proposal of a Mr. Bernard Rheinfeldt, a wealthy banker fifteen years her senior but with enough property and pull in society that such a match was highly sought after. Her Father had brokered the engagement and was being praised for his forethought into his daughter’s happiness. Laura had waited three days before she’d been forced to leave, trying to hold onto hope but with each passing day and no word from Betty, she’d been forced to accept the reality; Betty wouldn’t come for her. They wouldn’t run away from this together. Almost a week had passed since that time but the hurt still remained; tainted now by the loss of Laura's innocence. She'd been so certain Betty would come, that she would reach out...that she loved Laura like Laura loved her. 

The train slugged it’s way along, bumpy on the uneven rails that would need to be torn up and fixed at the earliest possible opportunity. Laura doubted the railroad man, a Mr. Thomas Durant, would spend much money fixing this until he’d made his way across the US like he’d promised. An interview with Mr. Durant might be at the bottom of her list, she was after all more interested in the boomtowns that popped up around the railroad but it could prove to be a good fluff piece. Something to send back to her editor in the hopes that he might show mercy on her. Though mercy wasn’t something she should expect. He’d already shown her enough of that when he hadn’t outright fired her for her affair with Betty. Something she was certain General Spielsdorf greatly frowned upon but as long as Laura was out of the city and Betty’s bed, she doubted the man had as much pull as he once had. 

The wind from the open window caught her bonnet and she reached up, tightening the ribbons. She couldn’t wait to take the damn thing off; her traveling skirts weren’t restrictive, and truth be told her waist was tiny enough that a corset wasn’t necessary most of the time, but the pins from her hat were pulling at her hair which she’d put up in a simple bun and her throat was dry from the lack of water she’d taken in that day. She tried to smooth down the wrinkles in her skirts and crossed her ankles as was proper for a lady. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feel of grit beneath her eyelids. Everything was so dirty out here; she wondered if she’d ever get clean again. The wind did feel good, it helped smother the scent of sweat and coal and dirt that permeated the air around her. The more bodies packed on the train, the worst it smelled. The further they got away from the small towns that remained and further towards the end of the line, the less bodies crowded the train car which allowed for easier breathing. She’d almost been unable to refrain from gagging a few times earlier in the week, the smell so thick it clung to the inside of her nose and made her want to lose what little she’d been able to put in her stomach at the previous stop. 

“We’re stopping for the night Miss.” A man in a black uniform with a portly belly and matching red cheeks spoke near her seat. 

“Oh? Why are we stopping? Does the train not work at night?” 

“No ma’am, it can run fine at night ma’am but the engineer has been hard at work since late the previous night so we thought perhaps a break was in order. There’s a small inn near the depot. It would give you a chance to rest.” 

“I need to reach my destination on time sir.” She hated being rude but the sooner she reached the end of the line the better. No more traveling and more to focus on then just nursing her broken heart. 

“You will Miss. We’ll arrive day after tomorrow; early. Plenty of time to get you what you need.” He offered her a sympathetic look. 

She was certain he was struggling to imagine why a lady such as herself would want to go to a place like that. She didn’t appear to be a whore or a lady without prospects. 

“Thank you, I’ll go to the Inn as you’ve suggested.” 

“Of course Miss. I can have your belongings delivered there if you’d like.” 

“No need, I will get what I require and be back in the morning before the train departs.” 

“Yes Ma’am; the train leaves at 8 o’clock. It will be a week or more before another comes.” 

“I’ll be certain to be at the depot. Thank you.” 

He dipped his head, red cheeks puffing slightly with the movement before moving down the line to inform the other passengers. 

What happened to the person she used to be? She’d been so idealistic, so naive to believe that she could make a difference. All of that had changed when she’d had her heart broken. She wanted that person back though she doubted she’d find her out here in the wilds of the Nebraska Territory. Betty had always laughed at her for making such elaborate plans, pages of writing scattered all over the room, ink staining one of her cheeks, hair a mess as she paced back and forth. Betty told her to forget about tomorrow, enjoy the day, but Laura had never been good at that. She was a planner, she needed to know where she was going and how she was going to get there. But she hadn’t planned for any of this and it threw her so completely out of balance that she was struggling to come back from the brink. She would though, she’d come back and she’d make a difference even in Hell on Wheels. 


End file.
